The main Bath House of Toshi Ranbo is a large, fine, if not opulent affair, reflecting the care the military designers of the city took for their soldiers.  It is here that Seppun Masahi and Doji Akibeiden have come to recover from their mornings exertions and Daidoji Sakura and Kedo have come to prepare for their day ahead.

There is one main entrance into the bath house into a small waiting room where the samurai give up their daisho and other weapons and separates the men from the women (right hallway for men and left for women).  The guards look askance at Daidoji Sakura as she enters into the men's side, but exceptions are made for samurai with yojimbo.  From the waiting room the hallway becomes lined row upon row of cubbie holes (presumably for you to leave your clothes) with towels for you to take along the outside wall and there are a number of doors along the inside wall.

Inside the main part of the bath house are two streams of water on either side of the room running parallel in an inset tiled 'ditch' in the floor--left side for women and right side for men.  This is the cold water to be used for washing, and indeed there are buckets full of sand to scour your skin and wooden scrapers to help you reach more awkward locations.  Taking up most of the room, however, is one of the largest baths you've ever seen.  Wide enough to fit nearly fifty people and deep enough to reach one's chin even standing, it is one of the luxuries of Toshi Ranbo and one of the few things left nearly completely intact from the original construction.

OOC:  hope that helps
[Private to Seppun Masashi: make an Agility/Slight of Hand (conceal) check TN 25 to get your knife past the guards; or you can try to convince them why it's necessary]
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:43, Mon 11 Aug 2008.

 "Indeed they must." agrees Kedo as he steps through the doorway of the bath-house just ahead of Daidoji Sakura, automatically removing both long and short swords from his belt and passing them to the attendant who places them on the lowest and least prestigious of the display racks set aside for visiting samurai (accompanying a magistrate or not, he is after all only a lowly Ronin in a city of the Crane and not deserving of a more prominant spot, especially given that the quality of the steel is not apparent from their plain and humble furnishings),.

 That chore accomplished he awaits the pleasure of his companion, turning her various admonishments over in his mind and musing over the slightly more robust than usual construction of the bath-house, designed with a mind to make assassination just a little more of an effort than would usually be the case.

 Just a little.

[Making some assumptions here ...]

Almost subconsciously, Sakura grabbed her bathing supplies -- the bucket and requisite "modesty towel" -- and added her own to the mix. There was still a lot on her mind, and it had occurred to her that this might very well be the last day of her life in this cycle. Of course this was not the first time something like that had happened to her ...

Sakura headed to the "men's side" of the bathhouse ...

Aki lets the warm water ease his muscles and tries to let hi mind clear. upon seeing Kedo-san enter he comes out of his reverie. Perhaps he will bath near me I would like speak with kedo-san.


Edited to reflect GM post
This message was last edited by the player at 01:32, Wed 13 Aug 2008.

  Masashi, soaking in the hot water feeling a lessening of the accumulated stresses, he had turned over  his daisho but in one of the towels, close by he still had a very serviceable tessen, he had learned never to be unarmed some years before.
 He saw Kedo-san and what was her name, ah yes Sakura-san, he had only met her once but she was difficult to forget.
 Other than politly greeting Akibieden-san he had luxuriated in blissful silence the only sound being the soft laping of the water in the tub.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:47, Tue 12 Aug 2008.

 Sakura heads to the "men's side" of the bathhouse ...

 ...and is gently redirected by a light touch upon her elbow, firmly veered towards the 'womens side' of the partition unless she should happen to attempt to exert whatever authority she may have over her yojimbo.

 What degree of success that might happen to have of course depends entirely upon whether the meditative ronin considers protection of reputation in the same light that he considers protection of the body.

 As far as he's concerned, if people want to talk to members of the opposite gender, they can do so outside... or through one of the small soap holes in the partition screen between the two sections.

Sakura stopped and looked at her Yojimbo, a sad-but-firm smile on her face. A hundred responses went through her mind, but in the end she said nothing and continued towards the Women's side. There were, after all, some advantages to the choice. Besides which, Kedo would be put through enough in the days to come.

Assuming they were both still alive at the end of the day ...

[Assuming nothing happens on the way, Sakura will quickly 'pre-bathe' and then head directly to the baths for some relaxation.]

Daidoji Sakura, Kedo, Seppun Masahi, and Doji Akibieden reach the central bath with its low dividing wall--low enough to reveal heads, if not anything else, to the other side--without any incident greater than reaching for the same scraper or handful of sand as one of their neighbors.  The low rumble of ambient conversation, of course, includes the murder of Doji Kusanagi and the up coming battle with the Lion, but also the fashion for the Winter Court and the possible early arrival of Doji Kuwanan.

more detail regarding those conversations requires an Awareness/Courtier (gossip), Awareness/Investigation (notice), or raw Awareness check TN 10 (the emphases are not required but do apply)
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:37, Thu 14 Aug 2008.

 Sad-but-firm Kedo can live with - just so long as Sakura doesn't do anything foolish like trying to disagree with him on matters regarding her safety both of the body and of her reputation, both of which might lead to some degree of disagreement.

 His usual watchfulness is somewhat reduced however when he slips into the waters with an almost relieved sigh, the grime of the road and the days practise, all the unfortunate and fortunate events that have led to this time and place being eased away by the gentle caress of water that's just nearly too hot to immerse oneself in...

 ...dressed (or rather, undressed) as he is it's possible to see the tracery of fine scars here and there across his torso and limbs - none deep or serious, but rather the accumulated lessons of a Bushi of modest experience. More distinctive however are the tattoos - intricate and swirling and seemingly detailed beyond mortal skill they trail over the torso and all four limbs in a snaking expanse of dragons and samurai, coils surrounding lessons from the Tao, the teachings of Shinsei... there, the scorpion and the frog crossing the river, here an armoured figure and a wise old man with the stars in his eyes surrounded by food in a forest whilst the birds and the beasts watch on.

 Now there's something you don't see every day.


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14:30, Today: Kedo rolled 15 using 6d10, dropping the 3 lowest rolls, rerolling max. Perception/Notice.